The Repurposing our High Streets (ROHS) grant scheme is helping food and drink businesses thrive in Crewe town centre, with six ventures recently opening thanks to support from the initiative.

The ROHS 'Open in Crewe' grant scheme offers capital grants of up to £30,000* (subject to meeting eligibility criteria) for businesses taking on leases at vacant town premises.

Funded by the UK Government Towns Fund, the grant scheme has allowed a variety of businesses to open their doors in Crewe - leading to a number of success stories in recent years.

New food and drink businesses to have opened with support from the scheme include:

• The businesses offerings
• What motivated them to open the business
• Why they chose Crewe

Bailey's Wine Bar & Deli - Crewe Market Hall

Bailey's Wine Bar & Deli was opened by Oliver Bailey in Crewe Market Hall in April 2025 (Photo: Bailey's).

Bailey's Wine Bar & Deli was opened by Oliver Bailey in Crewe Market Hall in April 2025.

Offering 12 different wines to enjoy in the Crewe venue and almost 60 different wines to enjoy at home, Bailey's also offers a large cheese counter and a large homeware range.

Oliver said: "I have always lived in Crewe. It was quite an easy option to pick here, due to my attachment to the local area.

"Crewe Market Hall has good footfall, had a regeneration project completed on it about four years ago and its probably also the gem of Crewe right now.

"Being the only dedicated wine bar and cheese counter in Crewe itself, we are bringing something new to the area.

"Funding from the ROHS scheme helped us to actually get the business off the ground, such as buying our deli cheese counter.

"A very large proportion of our business would have been non-operational had we not been able to secure the funding."

Big Mugs - Edleston Road

Big Mugs, Edleston Road, was opened by Laura Donaldson and Josh Wenlock in November 2024 (Photo: Ryan Parker).

Big Mugs, Edleston Road, was opened by Crewe residents, Laura Donaldson and Josh Wenlock, in November 2024.

The independent coffee shop offers high-quality food and drinks at affordable prices, with all coffee locally sourced.

Big Mugs offer books and games for customers to enjoy while they are visiting the shop, with all furniture purchased from local charities.

Laura and Josh said: "We both live in Crewe, love it here and wanted to be a part of the regeneration happening in the town right now.

"The funding helped us achieve our ambitions by creating Big Mugs and also helped us turn this gym shop [formerly Octagon] into a coffee shop.

"We bring a strong community into Crewe town centre, working with local people to enhance local links.

"As well as this, we are bringing a bit of life to Crewe, offering a relaxed place to enjoy great drinks and great food."

Cheer & Chug Sports Lounge - Victoria Centre

Cheer and Chug Sports Lounge, Victoria Centre, was opened in April 2025 by local man Billy Ledwards (Photo: Ryan Parker).

Cheer and Chug Sports Lounge, Victoria Centre, was opened in April 2025 by local man Billy Ledwards.

The sports lounge offers seven large TV screens,. interactive darts, supreme pool tables, shuffleboard tables, a VIP area, live music and more.

Billy said: "Crewe was missing a sports lounge, with the ROHS funding helping massively.

"With the town being rebuilt again, it is a great place to come and open a new spirts lounge.

"We hope to bring a lot more footfall, not just for our business, but for Crewe town centre.

"The funding set the foundations for the business to get up and running. The grant scheme itself is great for Crewe and would definitely recommend it for any business wanting to open in the town centre."

Kawaii Boba Tea - Earle Street

Kawaii Boba Tea, Earle Street was opened in May 2025 by Jayne LI, after relocating from inside Hong's Noodle & Dumpling Bar (Photo: Ryan Parker).

Kawaii Boba Tea, Earle Street was opened in May 2025 by Jayne LI, after expanding from inside Hong's Noodle & Dumpling Bar.

Crewe's first ever bubble tea shop offers reshly-made bubble teas, fruit teas, croffles, taiyaki waffles, boba sundaes, ice cream and Asian groceries.

Following a successful premises licence application, it also now offers Soju, Sake, Korean rice wine and potentially Chinese fruit beers.

Jayne said: "We are proud to be the very first authentic bubble tea shop in the local area.

"We offer an Asian convenience-style service to our customers, meaning they can come in and buy Raman or a Korean corn dog and dine-in.

"Because of the ROHS grant we were able to move to a bigger premises and expand the shop.

"It is nice to bring a slice of Asian culture to Crewe, which is quite diverse in that sense.

"There aren't many places in Crewe that provide a space for young people to go to. We see a local of school and college students visiting us and we also offer student discounts."

Kerala Peppery - Earle Street

Kerala Peppery, Earle Street, was opened in December 2024 by Jyothi Jyothis Prakash (Photo: Ryan Parker).

Kerala Peppery, Earle Street, was opened in December 2024 by Jyothi Jyothis Prakash, after expanding from a takeaway on Meredith Street.

The South Indian bar and restaurant took on the former Crown pub, with plans to open a new party hall, nightclub and beer garden at the site.

Kerala Peppery serves authentic South Indian dishes, including curries, bbq and tandoori specials, breads, Shawarma, Arabic Mandy and biryani.

It also serves a wide variety of drinks, including wines, spirits, beers, cocktails, cocktail shots and mocktails.

Jyothi said: "I feel a lot more comfortable in Crewe than other towns and cities in the UK I have lived in, because we were given a warm welcome here.

"My husband and myself were so specific that we had to open something with a dining space in Crewe town centre.

"The ROHS grant scheme was pretty easy and things went like a super fast train."

Oden Lounge - High Street

Oden Lounge, High Street, was opened in October 2024 by husband and wife, Opeyemi and Duduyemi Opaleye (Photo: Ryan Parker).

Oden Lounge, High Street, was opened in October 2024 by husband and wife, Opeyemi and Duduyemi Opaleye,

Open until 1am at weekends, Oden Lounge offers authentic African cuisine, along with beers, wines, spirits, cocktails and mocktails.

Employing four staff, Oden Lounge shows live sport inside its venue, made up of a pub zone, cosy zone and food zone.

Opeyemi and Duduyemi said: "Oden Lounge is a one of its kind in Crewe, an African bar and restaurant.

"It was a massive renovation we had done, with the ROHS scheme very beneficial to us. It went a long way in getting us open.

"I would recommend anyone the scheme to anyone wanting to open something similar in the future.

"The team were helpful and they made it seamless. We had all the support throughout.

"As long as you have a good business plan and you have the idea then it is something to give a go."

Find out more about the ROHS scheme at openincrewe.co.uk.

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